At Wick's End - Tim Myers [30]
I grinned. “No, but sometimes it just comes naturally. I’d love to stay and chat, Becka, but I’m kind of busy at the moment. Thanks for stopping by, though.”
I saw Eve frowning from the back of the candle shop, and knew I was setting myself up for another lecture on customer service, but this was one customer I was just as glad not to have shopping at Wick’s End.
Becka looked around the empty store and said, “Yes, I can see you’re up to your eyebrows in customers at the moment.”
“As I said, we’re closing.”
She moved closer to me, nearly knocking me over with her perfume. I never should have told her I liked that particular scent, not if there was a chance she was going to suffocate me with it.
In a voice nearly a whisper, she said, “I admit it, I was too hard on you when we broke it off. I’m sorry, Harrison.” When she saw her apology wasn’t having the desired effect, she added, “What do I have to do here, get down on my knees and beg?”
“No, I’d hate to see you ruin a new pair of hose,” I said. “Becka, I’m starting a new life here. I don’t mean to be ugly about it, but I’m not interested in repeating old mistakes with you. You were right to break up with me, I should have had the guts to do it myself, so let’s just leave it at that, shall we? I’m excited about this opportunity, and I’m not just talking about the store. I figure that’s the real gift my great-aunt wanted me to have.”
She pursed her lips, then said, “I’m not giving up on you, Harrison. I’ll be back.”
Before I had the chance to reply, she was gone.
Eve came out, so I decided to fire a preemptive strike before her lecture started. “Okay, I was a little rough on her, but Becka’s no customer, she’s an old girlfriend.”
“That’s not it,” Eve said, a puzzled look on her face as she stared out the door after Becka. “That young lady looks familiar to me for some reason.”
“I can’t imagine anyone ever seeing Becka and forgetting her,” I said. “She’s got a way of being noticed that’s tough to hide.”
Eve said, “Something’s different about her, but I swear I’d recognize her anywhere.” Suddenly, she said, “I’ve got it. She’s been here before.”
“Eve, I can’t imagine Becka coming into At Wick’s End, not without admitting it to me.”
She said adamantly, “The young lady had a scarf around her hair, and her attire was quite a bit more conservative, but I saw her here. I know it.”
“So she came in candle shopping one day,” I said. “There aren’t that many choices in Micah’s Ridge.”
“You don’t understand, Harrison. The real reason I remember her is because she was fighting with Belle about something when I walked in, and the next thing I knew that girl was storming out of here as if she were on fire.”
“When did this happen?” I asked, chilled by the thought of Becka fighting with my great-aunt Belle.
‘Two days before Belle died,” Eve said simply.
As much as I hated the idea, I was going to have to speak with Becka again and find out if Eve’s declaration was true. What could Becka have been fighting with Belle about? How did she even discover we were related? I didn’t remember telling them about each other. My private life was just that, and I’d never introduced any of my girlfriends to my great-aunt. Truth be told, none of them were all that permanent.
Still, I had to dig deeper and see if it was possible that Becka could have had anything to do with my great-aunt’s death.
A headache that had been hovering just out of range suddenly slammed down on me, pounding so hard I could barely see.
Eve was right; Saturday was hopping at Wick’s End. I knew we’d sold a lot of supplies over the course of the day, but the total surprised me as I went over the deposit after we finally locked up for the night. I’ve never been that big a fan of cash, but clearly I was in the minority, at least when it came to our customers. Not that there weren’t plenty of checks and credit card receipts in the bundle too, but the tens and twenties were in abundant supply.
After the front shades were pulled, I said, ‘That was some rush. Is it